Our Board

Clare is a strategic nurse leader with significant expertise in charity governance, finance and policy. A children’s nurse by background, Clare has had a long career in healthcare quality improvement before stepping into the third sector. For the last decade Clare was Chief Executive of the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland (QNIS) and has focussed her energies in creating safe and brave spaces where nurses can discover themselves and connect with a new sense of agency, by understanding what they need to flourish. She is a Florence Nightingale Foundation Leadership Scholar, an Honorary Professor of Nursing at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh and a Visiting Professor, at the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Her vision is to unleash the creativity of nurses to be catalysts for positive change and powerful advocates for the health of people, place and planet.

Adelaida Zabalegui has been a Nurse since 1982 (Spain), Master and Ph.D. in Nursing from New York University (1997) as a
Fellow of the Spanish Ministry of Health.

Assistant Director of Nursing at New York City Bellevue Hospital. Director of Nursing and ViceDean of Medical and Health Science School (Universitat Internacional de Catalunya). Chief Nurse Officer and currently Vice Director of Nursing at Hospital Clínic of Barcelona and Associate Professor at Barcelona University.

Full Professor and Advanced Researcher in elderly care, 300 publications, director of 21 doctoral dissertation thesis,
Senior mentor of doctoral students at European Academy of Nursing Science (EANS) summer schools and Editor of the Spanish version of the journal “Nursing”.

Board Member of EANS, Catalan Association of Nursing Directions and Nursing Now campaign (European representative).

Dame Christine Beasley served the UK National Health Service in a number of roles during a 50-year career. She started as a student nurse at the Royal London Hospital and held a number of hospital and regional roles in nursing, operations and organisational development.

In 2003, she was appointed Partnership Development Director in the national Modernisation Agency. A year later, she took up her final role as Chief Nursing Officer for England, a post she held until 2012.

In parallel with her executive career, Dame Christine has been a member of various nursing and health related committees. She has been appointed to a number of non-executive positions in the health, charitable and higher education sector. She was Vice Chairman of the NHS Trust Development Agency from 2012 until 2016 and is currently Chairman of HEE London and South East Education Board.

She is Chairman of the Florence Nightingale Museum Trust and a Trustee of the Burdett Trust for Nursing.

Professor Bisognano is President Emerita and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).

She previously served as the President of IHI for five years, as well as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for 15 years. She is a prominent authority on improving health care systems and her expertise has been recognized by her elected membership to the USA National Academy of Medicine, among other distinctions.

Ms. Bisognano advises health care leaders around the world, is a frequent speaker at major health care conferences on quality improvement, and is a tireless advocate for change. She is also an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a Research Associate in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities, and serves on the boards of the Commonwealth Fund, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Indiana University Health System and Catalysis.

Ms. Bisognano chairs the advisory board for the Well Being Trust.

Professor Al-Maaitah has held numerous key positions including Senator in the Upper House of the Jordanian Parliament, Minister for Government Performance, Minister of Social Development and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. She is a member of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation, and the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to the Regional Director of the Eastern Mediterranean Office of the World Health Organization.

An expert in public health systems, Professor Rowaida Al-Maaitah was presented with the Abdul Hameed Shoman Medical Sciences Award for Young Arab Scientists, and in 2000 she was selected as an Outstanding Jordanian Woman Professor.

She also served as a member of the Senate of the Euro-Mediterranean University, the Innovation and Competitiveness National Council, the Advisory Higher Committee for Women Empowerment in Malaysia, the Jordan First Initiative, and the Higher Council for Education and Vocational Training.

Former Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Department of Health, Australia

Spanning a lengthy career in nursing and midwifery Debra Thoms has held a variety of roles since her student studies at UNSW and the Prince Henry and Prince of Wales Hospitals in Sydney, NSW. Her career has involved both nursing and midwifery leadership and broader health management roles in several states in Australia culminating in her appointment as the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Australia in 2015. Immediately prior to this appointment she was the inaugural Chief Executive of the Australian College of Nursing. Through her roles as CNMO and with the UTS WHO Collaborating Centre she has been involved in nursing and midwifery activities across the South Pacific for several years and also represented Australia on the WHO Executive Board.

Following her role with the Australian Government Debra was the acting Head of School at the Queensland University of Technology and then the interim Chief Executive for the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery (ANZ). She holds Adjunct Professor appointments with the University of Technology, Sydney and the Queensland University of Technology.

Ben Simms is the Chief Executive of Global Health Partnerships (formerly THET), with over 30 years' experience leading global health, disability and development programmes across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. He is passionate about strengthening the global health workforce, building equitable partnerships, and tackling racism as a structural barrier to better health outcomes.

At GHP, Ben has played a pivotal role in expanding the organisation's Health Partnership model, enabling thousands of NHS staff to collaborate with peers in more than 30 countries. A leading advocate for ethical health workforce mobility, he champions the contributions of diaspora health professionals and is a regular contributor to global policy discussions, including the World Health Assembly. He argues consistently for a UK approach to global health rooted in solidarity, long-term system strengthening and investment in people.

GHP has been proud to support the Nursing Now Challenge since its inception, and Ben is delighted to join the Advisory Board.
He holds an MSc in Development Management and an MA in History, and serves as Vice-Chair of the BBC Charity Appeals Advisory Committee.

Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE, is the first Chief Midwife for the International Confederation of Midwives. Jacqueline is responsible for championing the interests of midwives globally, elevating the profession’s profile, and emphasising the significant benefits of a well-resourced, educated, regulated, and empowered midwifery workforce. She leads initiatives essential to the growth of midwifery globally.

Jacqueline served for four years as the first Chief Midwifery Officer for the NHS in England and was one of two National Maternity Safety Champions appointed by the Department for Health and Social Care. Jacqueline is a nurse, midwife and a visiting Professor of Midwifery at Kings College London and London South Bank University. She has held senior positions in clinical practice, education, leadership and management.

Currently, she is the chair of the maternity advisory group for the Health and Race Observatory in England, a member of the Women of the Year management committee,
Midwifery Ambassador for the ‘Saying Goodbye’, Patron for Baby Lifeline Charity, Patron for the Caribbean and African Health Network and Midwifery Advisor for the RCN Foundation.

She has held several Trustee positions. In 2024 she received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Worcester and Winchester Universities in the UK. Jacqueline has been recognised as one of the Health Service Journal’s (HSJ) most influential people in health, in 2020,2021 and 2022 .

Professor Brendan McCormack D.Phil (Oxon.), BSc (Hons.), FRCN, FEANS, FRCSI, PGCEA, RMN, RGN, MAE is Head of School and Dean at The Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery (inc Sydney Nursing School), the Faculty of Medicine and Health at The University of Sydney. He is also Academic Chair of ‘The CARE Program at Sydney Policy Lab, University of Sydney; and Chair of the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery for Australia and New Zealand. Brendan is a registered nurse who graduated with a D.Phil from the University of Oxford in 1997. Brendan’s research focuses on person-centred healthcare with a particular focus on the development of person-centred cultures, practices and processes. He has specialised as a clinical nurse in gerontology and dementia care. Brendan has been awarded the Sigma ‘International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame’. He is a member of The Academia Europaea. He has 800 publications, including 350 peer-reviewed publications in international journals and 14 books. His h index is 65. In September 2024 was selected to join the Lancet Global Commission on People-centred Healthcare for Universal Health Coverage hosted by Harvard University and made an affiliate academic at Harvard Medical School Centre for Primary Care. In 2025 he was awarded the Paul Tournier Prize for Person-centred Healthcare by the International College of Person-centred Medicine.

Professor Julia Slark is the Head of School of Nursing at Waipapa Taumata Rau/University of Auckland. She qualified as a Registered Nurse in London, UK in 1993. She has 15 years’ experience as a senior clinical nurse specialist in Stroke patient care, and was part of the team at Imperial College NHS Trust which implemented the London-wide, new stroke strategy to provide urgent hyper-acute stroke interventions to London regional populations in 2009.

Julia obtained her PhD from Imperial College London, in 2012 which looked at risk awareness as a tool to improve secondary stroke prevention strategies. Since arriving in New Zealand in 2013, Julia has led two stroke development projects in Auckland and Waikato to implement hyper-acute stroke services and she developed and contributed to the interprofessional stroke courses at Waipapa Taumata Rau.

She was the academic director of the BNurs programme at the University of Auckland for five years prior to taking up the position of Head of School in 2019. Julia is the inaugural Chair of the Stroke Nurse Forum Aotearoa which was established in November 2020. Julia is an enthusiastic and committed nurse, educator and researcher who is passionate about providing the highest standards of care to patients. Her research interests include nursing, education and all aspects of stroke patient care.

Rhoda Redulla, DNP, RN, NPD-BC, FAAN is a distinguished nurse leader with a diverse experience leading large organizations in advancing nursing science and practice. Rhoda is the Director of Nursing Excellence and Magnet® Recognition for NewYork-Presbyterian, a top-ranking healthcare system in the United States. Her exemplary work includes leading and supporting several organizations in the US, UK, and China to Magnet® designation. She has widely disseminated her work in authoring books and over a hundred podium presentations, book chapters, and peer-reviewed articles on professional development, gastroenterology, and Magnet®. Her book, Fast Facts for Making the Most of Your Career in Nursing, is a go-to resource for nurses looking to optimize their career potential. Rhoda is Associate Editor of Gastroenterology Nursing, and lecturer for Yale School of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program.

For almost a decade, Rhoda has led the Education committee of the Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates (SGNA) at the national level. Through her work with global organizations like the Nursing Now Challenge, Joanna Briggs Institute, Philippine Nurses Association of America, SGNA, and the academe, she has mentored emerging nurse leaders and authors with over a hundred progressing to publication, research, and doctoral education. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.
She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Johns Hopkins University and was recognized as an outstanding alumna. She completed her post master’s education at the University of Pennsylvania and master’s and bachelor’s degrees at the University of Northern Philippines.

Professor Elizabeth Adams is currently Director of Professional Development with the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation in Ireland. She is also the elected President of the European Federation of Nurses Associations, which represents 3 million nurses across Europe.

Elizabeth is an Adjunct Professor with Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia and University College Dublin. In the past, she was contracted by WHO Europe to undertake advisory and technical work on the European Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery towards Health 2020. Prior to this, she served as Director of Nursing and Midwifery for the Health Service Executive in Ireland.